Page 52 of Outlaw Ridge: Hayes

Cordelia’s blood-curdling scream echoed through the woods, and then the woman made a sound. A gasp of pain. The kind of gasp someone would make if they’d been seriously injured.

Or faking.

There was some movement to the left of the mountain cedars, and Hayes and Jemma automatically took aim there. But it wasn’t the shooter.

Cordelia tumbled out of the trees.

Her face had no color, and there was blood spreading over the right sleeve of her taupe shirt. Groaning in pain, she tumbled into the shrubs.

“Help me,” Cordelia pled through the groans and the sobs.

Jemma could no longer see the woman’s face or her injury, but she appeared to have been shot in the arm. That might or might not be a fatal wound if it was the real deal.

If.

It would be fairly easy to use fake blood to mimic an injury like this. But why? Was Cordelia doing this to lure them out for an easier shot? If so, Jemma hadn’t seen a gun in the woman’s hands.

“What the hell is going on?” Ruby asked through the earpiece.

“To be determined,” Hayes let her know. “Cordelia might have been shot. Moving in for a closer look.”

Jemma was about to tell Hayes to stay put, that this could be a trap, but there was some more movement in the trees. About ten yards to Cordelia’s right, the low-hanging branches twitched on one of the mountain cedar.

Moments later, someone stepped out.

Her father.

And he wasn’t alone.

There was someone standing behind him. Someone wearing a ski mask, and that someone had a gun pressed to her father’s head.

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Chapter Eighteen

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“Dad,” Hayes heard Jemma mutter, and there was a whole lot of fear trapped in that single word.

There was a damn good reason for the fear, what with the gun at Stefano’s right temple. A shot there would be fatal.

But who the hell was holding that gun?

Hayes couldn’t tell because of the ski mask. Added to that, the person was crouching down behind Jemma’s father, using him as a human shield.

One thing was for certain—Stefano’s captor wasn’t Cordelia. The woman was lying on the ground, wailing in pain and still calling out for someone to help her. Stefano did glance in her direction, but he gave nothing away. No signs to indicate that maybe his wife was part of…well, whatever the heck this was.

“Dad,” Jemma repeated, and because she looked ready to jump to her feet, Hayes scurried over closer to her.

And he got shot at.

Her father’s captor sent a bullet right at Hayes, but it skipped off a boulder, and Hayes was able to duck behind cover with Jemma.

“Stefano,” Cordelia called out, and she turned as if ready to make her way to her husband.

“I can’t tell who’s holding him,” Jemma muttered.

“Neither can I,” Hayes agreed.

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